The Banner Saga: Factions is the premiere multiplayer role-playing strategy game on PC and Mac. It brings the feeling of beloved tactical games to a high-definition era with gorgeous hand-animated artwork and a degree of depth unprecedented in the realm of free games. Fight, learn, and lead your clan of vikings to glory!

About This Game

The Banner Saga: Factions is the premiere multiplayer role-playing strategy game on PC and Mac. It brings the feeling of beloved tactical games to a high-definition era with gorgeous hand-animated artwork and a degree of depth unprecedented in the realm of free games. Fight, learn, and lead your clan of vikings to glory!

Great game. Artwork is unique and amazing. The strategy has a lot of depth and you'll get punished if you just blindly do something in a battle

There's a few things that this game definitely needs however. The major one would be more base unit typesRight now it only has Warrior, Shieldbanger, Archer and Raider. Each of these units can be upgraded to 3 types. But I believe the game needs AT LEAST 2 more base units to give it more depth. I think the single player has some more units so I hope they add that to the multi as well and add more base units in future

Also a little more customization would be nice. Only customization you currently have is different colors for units which looks a bit repetitive after a while

All in all a solid strategy game but has potential for to do even better

Matches take forever because you are required to do more actions/confirmations each turn, animations are slow and opponents intentionally wait for turn to end.

So, just play the single player game because multiplayer isn't fun when you have so long matches and you get so little rewards. Upgrades cost too much so you can Pay To Advance if you feel like it (you probably don't).

Note: As of this review, I've not played the single player version, The Banner Saga.

This game is a very simple turn-based brawler. In terms of pure mechanics, I'd say it plays like a stripped down X-COM: EU/EW, minus perma-death. Or like viking flavored chess. Of course, both of these examples are simplifications.

I really enjoy the balance of the gameplay. Even though it's pure PVP, I've never felt cheated, which IMO is unusual for a competitive multiplayer game. There's only a limited stock of different units, part of why the game is so balanced.

On the other hand, limited unit type means limited unit variation, which is unfortunate. I've come to understand that besides not including enemy faction units (the dredge) from the single player, there is at least one more viking unit missing.

Additionally, you earn Renown (your currency and XP) at a slow rate, clearly to induce you to go to the shop and spend real money. However, paying doesn't grant access to anything that anyone else can except for skins and extra renown.

While I've spent a shameful amount of time on this game, I have a proportionately substantial team to show for it and I haven't paid a dime. Unlike other F2Ps where I wondered "Well what was the point?" when I finally logged off.

It's free. It's balanced and fun. It's rewarding and beautiful to look at. I fully recommend giving it a try.

Very good PVP-game if you've a fan of the strategy elements of Banner Saga. Very good balanced, but exp is hard to come by. Drives me angry that you can specific klasses only with real money but a free game is a free game, right? :D Definitively worth a try!

Just buy The Banner Saga proper, and avoid this. Maybe give Factions a go to learn a few in-game mechanics.

The much-lauded combat has all the depth of a game of Tic-tac-toe or Draughts. There's lots of pretty pictures, though.

Advancement comes at a price or by incrementally expanding levels of grinding. For example; it costs 20 Renown to level a character the first time, second time it costs 80. On average you can expect to earn between 3 to 10 Renown (experience points) per battle, depending on how well you do. Classes and customization are behind a paywall (to be expected), and many opponents constantly wait out their turns forcing you to move first and get within distance of their Archers and units with larger movement ranges.

Not fun, could provide a couple of hours distraction but ultimately an endevour that goes nowhere. Possibly provides a decent introduction that could or could not lead to a purchase of The Banner Saga.

No one plays this game....It seems like it could be fun but PvP matches are the only option and there are just not enough people playing to even find a match. They really should have though about having PvE for leveling and training. apparently the tournament is a thing but I can't get to level 12 to participate because no one plays quickmatch in my level range haha. Oh well, uninstall.

The Banner Saga: Factions is easy to pickup, but offers incredibly deep gameplay. The real strategy comes in deciding on the composition of your team, and whether you are going to play defensively or offensively, focus on ranged or melee, have one or two powerful units or spread the ranks of your team evenly.

I've played games that are outright brawls, and games that have been about cautious manuevering trying to outflank the other team. I would recommend giving it a fair try over a number of days as durng my first few hours I almost quit because the combat seemed too chaotic and I didn't appreciate the nuances.

I really like the variety of classes, and love that some of the classes I initially regarded as weak have become my favourites. In fact I would say there are no weak classes and any unit can be good if you use it appropriately.

This game is not in any way pay to win; each side builds a team of equal level based on character rank, so battles are evenly matched. So for instance a rank 6 team could be 1+1+1+1+1+1 or 0+0+1+1+2+2 etc. The payment options just allow you to build that team faster (or even instantly with enough purchased renown), so that does not give any advantage within a skirmish.

I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who likes turn based tactical battles where skill is the overriding factor.

If you like tactics games and multiplayer this game has quite a bit of depth to it. The hand animated character models really feel like living things, and theres quite a bit of polish. There haven't been any huge balance tweaks in a while, but the core game is amazing. Can't wait for the single player to release!

This game is under "Favorites" in my library. It's a free to play multiplayer game that almost anyone can run.If you want a mature community and a game in which you fight with opponents that are clever and intelligent, this is the game for you.Certainly not one of Pay-to-win titles.I like how the art is done and the soundtrack itself is incredible.Start playing this game, outmaneuver your opponents, upgrade your warriors, participate in tournaments or just play against your friend.Next to Chess and Worms Armageddon, this is the game I would play with my family members.10/10 - This is the game I would play rather than some overrated AAA crap!

It's viking themed, its artwork design is retro-stylish and reminiscent of golden Disney era and it resembles chess but with more diversity and "easy to grasp difficult to master" mechanics. It has an awesome community and it's free to play with no pay-to-win features.

An excellent game with plenty of strategy if you persevere and learn the mechanics. In contrast to some other reviews out there, there is no real random element to this game if you learn how to play it, and learning the game is made all the easier by the friendly community which are always happy to help. I can't reccommend this game enough and as it's free there's no reason not to try it!

If you have not, well, it is a game for those MMO enthusiasts who like a slower pace, more calculating approach and generally leaning towards chess rather than Wipeout in their games. Only complaints I would have are the same as for the "original" TBS: we could use more animation and more (i.e. any) voiceover. Other than that, the graphics are delightful, the atmosphere is great and the audio is fantastic.

Definitely for the calmer, more realxed gamer. If you want a game for long winter evenings you will not be disappointed.

You can see the more technical reviews of this game at IGN, etc., but I want to highlight the one thing that makes this game so great: simplicity that belies its depth. The number of combinations of moves and overarching strategies that can win a given match are so numerous that having played this game for months, I haven't exhausted trying new things and even succeeding at them. Accusations that the game is 'boring' for reasons such as lack of unit diversity, etc., actually fail to see the best part of the game.

I am not a big fan of Strategy games but this one swayed me. The art is insanely good. I am wating for the single player game to release. The scrore is also great and goes weill with the overall feel of the game. The setting si very interesting as well. The mechanics are simple enough to learn with ample tutorials and help provided at the click of a button. I would say it needs to be expanded with more variation between the character models, at least in multiplayer. Pallette swaps are nice but I would like to see more. This setting begs for it!Pick it up free then pay a bit of money as I did to support it. Great title.

I haven't played too much of this game yet. Just a couple hours. But from what I have already been involved in, this game is a keeper.

First off, this game is fantastic for what it has to offer as a Free To Play. Not only will it captivate you as a user, and encourage you to play more and more, but you are never once cornered to pay towards micro transactions as an individual.

I have always loved being involved with turn-based strategy games, and a well known similarity too this kind of game is Chess. One player takes a turn, then the other. This provides a relaxing atmosphere for the user as whole, but at the same time making the gameplay quite a nail-biter.

When I first joined the community of TBS, I didn't quite know what to expect. But after a quick, and easy to understand tutorial I was able to get along quite nicely. As several users will say at one point, you can get quite distracted by the beautifully crafted retro graphics, and as I did- miss your turn.

As earlier stated, gameplay is relaxing. You have a fair amount of time to perform each action with every individual unit, and the turn-based aspect of the game gives you time to plan out your ways to attack, pillage, and dominate the opposing player.

I'd like to talk about the community, not as a game, but within the discussion of players. Right as I came into the game, and said my first words into global chat, I was warmly welcomed. Every player is nice, respectful, and easy going. You can easily make friends with your opponent, even if you are trying to bash in their head with a shield twice the size of their unit. Some may like to trashtalk you here and there, but it doesnt spell unsportsmanship.

Hopefully this review has encouraged you to play this game, as much as every other review. I'm looking forward to facing you in The Banner Saga: Factions game.